Rotary valve



Aug. 21, 1934. I Q H wlLLs Er AL 1,970,928

ROTARY VALVE Filed Feb. 23. 1932 l 2 Sheets-Sheet l wrm ATTORNEYS Aug. 21, A1934. c, H. wJLLs ET Al.

ROTARY VALVE Filed Feb. 23. 1932 fg/,12, y if' 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEYS Patented Aug. 21, 1934 com vALvgEf j f child. "Harold" wins', Maravilla; 151m Buttler Beebe, Port HuronMich., assignors,

by mesne assignments,

Pointe Farms, Mich.

Application vFebruary 23,

tg Mary c. wins, dass? 1832, Serial No. 594,588

' 4 claims. (Cieza- 59) This invention relates to rotary valves and is especially useful Vfor internal explosion engines in connection with which it will be described;

Rotary valves have frequently been purposedv 5i for internal explosion engines, but difficulty has been encountered in their operation, particularlyA from heating and consequent warping, and from unbalanced forces.V

` One of the primary objects of our invention is. to provide av rotary valve which overcomes the foregoing `objections and which otherwise securesz all of the advantages known to be-i'ncident tothe' rotary typeof valve. Y

More 'particularly vvefproposev to provide what 1K.' maybe termed a floating rotary valve `A *whichmay belubricated as by the `incoming and/ or out-T going mixture, and in which provision ismade tc; balance the valve under all conditions of operaion.

We also aim to provide a valve which isVY easy toassemble and which has long life.

The foregoing, together withsuch otherobjectsV and advantages as appear hereinafter, or are incident to ourV inventiom-we realize by a construclll tion illustrated in the preferred form in the ac-` companying drawings, wherein-4 1 y Fig. 1 is a fragmentary side elevation andparl tial section illustrating vour improvements.

y Fig. 2 is a cross sectional VView through-fthe i improved valve and the upper end of afcylinder; Y Fig. 3 is an enlarged vsectional Viewv of-'aVV partl of the valve, taken on the line 3- 3- of' Fig. v5.

LFig. 4 is a side. elevation of Fig. 3.r

`lig. 5 is a section taken on the line 5-5 of- Sli Eig. 3, and Fig. 6 isV a perspective of a detail of the inven tion. y y

In Fig. l wehave illustrated the inventionfas applied toa four cylinder engine of the four vcycle il' type; the upper ends ofthe cylinders beingindicated at 7. Mounted on the cylinders isa cas-"- ing 8 which" serves as a head for the'cylinders and' a housing for the rotor 9. The casing 8' is' watercooledi v v 'Ihe rotorhas clearance in the bore ofthe case ing and has reduced end portions `9' t'or'eceiveV the bearings I fitted into opposite ends' of the casing 8, in bores 11 larger than theV main bore. The open ends-of the casing 8 are closed by caps 12 and 13. The bore ofthe cap-'13 issmalierfinV diameter than the portion 9' of the rotor and the rotorV has a `reduced endl portion 9'* iittingjsaidbore. A packing 14 is provided for the end of the rotor which carries the packing nut l5; `'I'he end plate I6 ofthe cap 13'maybe removed.

The construction is substantially the same at the other end ofthe rotor, save that there is provision made Vfor driving the rotor from the motorv in'cany well known'manner.

By removing .themembers at oneend, prefer-v ably the leftv hand end', the rotor with its packing and packing nuts may be removed as an entirety.'v

Opening from the lower portion'of'the bore of thecasing are slots 17, one for each cylinder, by means of which the mixture is admitted and the expended charge exhausted, as will further appear, Inletports 18, one for each cylinder, are also provided in the ycasing leadingfrom one face tof tliebore. On-the opposite side, the casing is provided with exhaust ports. i9 'leading from the: bore tothe other face. The intake and exhaust manifolds are 'secure'dnto opposite sides of the casing.'

The r otor is' provided with port cavities along its length preferably in pairs, a pair for each cylin` der, 'I'h'esecavities are indicated at 20. As the valve isjrotatedA these cavities provide communication between' the' intake ports and the cylinders and the exhaustL ports and thecylinders The pairs'of ports are oifset 90" in the order of ring. "Inthepositon ofthe rotor shown in Fig. 2 the'pistonfor the respective 'cylinder is at cornpression approximately ready for explosion of the charge.. The ports ,18' and 19 are closed and the port,.1 9jwill be uncovered after the explosion s trokawhereupon'the expended charge will exhaust. When this has taken place the port cavity through which exhaustrtook'place will be the cavityl through which the next ycharge for thatcylinder isbeing drawn and the other port cavity-which was utilized for the entrance of the previous charge-will connect exhaust port 19- fordischarge.` 4Thus the surfaces subjected to heat areimmediately thereafter subjected to the cooling iniiuence ofthe gaseous mixture.

In order that the' rotor mayr have substantial clearance in the bore of the casing, and in order thatgit may be balanced, the following provision ismade; attention being directed particularly to Figures 3,y 4 and 5. Adjacent the ends of each pair of cavities therotor'is provided with a packing ring "2l'of anypreferred construction. `The rotor is alsdprovided with eight bars (or longi-v tudinal rings vasthcy may be-terrned) 22 for each pair' of cavities. These have slots 23 milled therein to receive the ringsZl. The rotor body has slots 24 milled therein `to receive the bars 22, these sIots beingofsuilicient depth to permit'. thebars 22l to lbe radially inwardly depressed:

Sil

diate the cavities, peripherally of the rotorL- Stated in other words, the intersecting rings, the body of the rotor and the housing provide chambers 26 and chambers 27,1thechambersf27 'sur-V` rounding the port cavities -andlthech'ambers' 126 the port cavities. Y

The ends of the bars 22 t,agains t the rings 28 for the reception of which the body of the rotor has annular grooves milled therein; adjacent the ends ofthe slots 24. 1

n v,Byv the above arrangement Ait'fv'vill be seen, 'fori example, that when' "one of"the]portsf120V is 'connectingpor'tsl and 17, the incomingmixture is sealed off andprevented `f r om "owingfarou'n'd the 'rotor body to the exhaustport, and similarly when one of jtheiports`20`isconnecting the p orts 19 and 17, theexh'aust'i's sealed'oi and cannot now around the rotor body. rThe arrangement also permits of'balanoing the valve. j Thus, for example, withthe rotor in the position vof Figure 2 with 'the cylinder on compression vthe charge under compression cannotl'escaple backwards aroundlthe body. In this position the opposite chamber 26'wil1 beat the top and the 'by-pass 29 to 29' establishes communication between v the top of the kcylinder andthe said ,chamber 26, for which purpose the casing hase.' port 30 opening to the' bore, drilled therein.`lr Thus the compresand thus for all conditions of operation; .The rotor is, therefore, 'always in balance.' It will be understood that 'the same provision of rings is-'made for the rotor for eachcylinder o f the engine.

It will be seen from the foregoing that the arrangement is one in which the valvebody does not' normally contact with the face of the" bore, theirings making the contact. This lVobviates the warping and consequent binding vdifiiculitiesheref- Y tofore encountered with valves of the rotary'type.

We have found thatno special lubrication islrequired, the incoming charge serving'suii'iciently for this purpose. No objectionable wearing of grooves inthe bore occurs.- In fact, wc have operated motors so equipped andfoundafter a great manythousands of miles, that theyalve is still in perfect operating condition. f

If desired the rotormay ,l also be internally cooled for which purpose we provide the bore 3l and .introduce cooling waterl Orother medium through the ports 324 in the end caps. Circulation thus takes place through the rotor-body. VTo prevent the cooling medium from working into the interior of the main bore, leak-oli ports 33 may be provided-intermediate the bearings and the packing. By slightly scoring or scratching the face of the gland nut which bears against the packing, we have found that any liquidworking pastis thrown or drawnbaclc andput into the general circulation.y This cooling andthe cooling of the cavity surfaces herei'nbefore referred to, because they tend to prevent overheating of the valve, also assist in minimizing warping, and thus reduce the clearance needed between the rotor and the bore.

The device is easy to assemble. 1

Eight bars 22 are preferably 'employed vto secure sealing at all positions of the rotor'. It is obvious that the arrangement may be reversed and the bars carried in the housing instead of on the rotor. g f. We,claim:-

1 .v an internal combustion engine, the combination with anengine cylinder, a rotary valve,

i Y l a housing for the V'valve having a port communisurrounding the body of theirotor/intermediate catingjwiththe'cylinder and having an inlet port and an exhaust port disposed oppositely to one another, the'valvehaving a cutaway portion on each side providing oppositely disposed cavities adapted vto' establish communication alternately between said nrst port; and` the, inlet port,v and; said rgt 99N and .the exhaust; port, annularendiangitudinal packingn members cooperating v`vto -provide sealing walls entirely marginally surroundingeach cavity and entirely marginally surrounding ,chambers c ircumierentially vof the valve be-I tween the cavities thereof, andlongitudinal packing members subdividing saidchambers into a plurality of chambers. k1,-

2. In an internal combustionengine, the com-I binatipn with an engine cylinder, arotary valve, lamusing for the valve havinga-port cammini--V eating with the cylinder and havinggan inlet port and an exhaust port disposed oppositely tof one anothen the valve having a cutaway portion'on each side providingoppositely :disposedfcavities adapted to establish communieationalternately. between said first port and the inlet portand said first port and the exhaust port, and annular. and longitudinal packing members cooperating to provide sealing walls entirely marginallyxsurrounding each cavity and entirely marginally surrounding chambers circumferentally of thevalve between the cavities thereof, there being a pair of. spaced Yannuls r .members to either ,end of ,.each' cavity and a pair vofjspaced longitudinalmembers.

to either side of each cavity.

3. Inan internal combustion engine, the com-; bination with anenginecylinder, arotary valve, a ,housingfor the valve having a, port communi-y cating with the cylinder andhaving'an-inlet and an exhaust port diSplJStd` oppositely to one another, the valve having a cutaway portion on each Side providing oppositely disposed vkcavities ,-arranged to establish communication alternately between said first port and .the inlet port and said rst port and the exhaust port, annular and longitudinalpacking members cooperatingto provide sealing walls entirely, marginally surrounding each cavity, and otheriwlongitudinal ypacking members in theportion of the valve between the cavities,-said other members being,circumferen-` tially spaced from each other. and -from the first mentioned longitudinal packing members to provide sealing `walls Ventirely marginally surrounding a plurality of-chambers circumferentiallyof the valve atthe portion Vbetween the cavites. 4. In aninternal combustion engine, the combinationiwithan engine cylinder, arotary valve,v a housing for the valve Ihaving a port comrrnini-A eating with the cylinder and having an inlet port and annexhaust port disposed .oppositelyftoone another, thevalve having a cutaway portion. on eachside providing oppositely disposed? cavities adapted tofgestablishvleonimunication alternately to either side of each cavity, said longitudinal members being continuous from one end annular member to the other end annular member and being slotted to receive the intermediate annular members, and a single spring associated with each longitudinal member to urge it outwardly.

CHILD HAROLD WILLS. JOHN BUTTLER BEEBE. 

